episode_0325

Episode 325

Feeling a little heavy, I put down the tea cup and said,

“This may be a somewhat rude question, but what would you do if the Empire contacted you again? Margrave Wihart.”

Just because you stick your head in muddy water doesn’t mean you can be completely trusted. Wihart, who received a question packaged with a smile, scratched his beard and said,

“I will do whatever the princess wants. You can immediately cut off the head and offer it to him, or you can roughly appease him and get the information you want. Which do you prefer?”

It’s a bold answer. I shrugged my shoulders and said.

“Well, actually, there isn’t much chance of that happening. It would have been known out there that Ian had died, especially that he had turned into a monster using that unknown item. I don’t think the possibility of contacting you again is very high.”

“That’s what I think too. Even if he steps in again, it is more likely to be a deception.”

You don’t reveal much of your inner self. I decided to try again.

“Do you still think they will launch an invasion?”

“If I were to use normal judgment, I would give up… but there are plenty of crazy people in the world who do crazy things, whether intentionally or unintentionally.”

I stared at Wihart’s face for a moment. He was facing me without any particular expression.

I think we need to use more direct means. I spoke in a calm voice.

“As you may have seen in my fight with Ian, I am a mage.”

“Yes. I was very surprised.”

“My specialty is magic that controls people’s minds. It is possible to scare them, brainwash them, or force them to tell only the truth.”

Everyone in the kingdom has a deep sense of the infinite possibilities of magic. Wihart also seemed to understand what that meant.

“I want to confirm your sincerity. Margrave Wihart. Have you really returned as a loyal subject of the royal family? In a way that leaves no room for doubt.”

“Are you saying that I want to be a puppet under Princess Sera’s control for the rest of my life? Of course, such conditions cannot be accepted.”

It is natural to protest. Wihart’s eyebrows furrowed.

He was still wearing a protective barrier. It’s probably a function included in janggu in peacetime. It is impossible to break through it with my meager mana alone.

“I guess I said it in a way that caused misunderstanding. What I’m trying to use on you is not a submission spell. Just a spell to tell the truth is enough. The action time is only about 30 minutes.”

The magic of telling the truth. Its power is much weaker than that of the Absolute Obedience spell. But it would be just as fatal for someone hiding something.

Wihart answered readily.

“I understand. That’s right.”

There was no sign of any concern. I immediately took off the ring from my hand and placed it on the desk. Then the magic barrier spread around him disappeared.

“If only I could restore even a little of the trust that I broke with my own hands.”

Wihart doesn’t know that I can see mana. He could have chosen to pretend to be under magic while maintaining the magic barrier.

Moreover, although words are said to be a spell of truth, they may cast a spell of obedience. Wihart’s action was no different from holding a gun to his own temple.

I slowly extended my arms to him. He seemed nervous, but didn’t move a thing. I lowered my arms again.

“I don’t think there’s any need to use magic.”

“Was it a lie…?”

“Well, magic isn’t the only way to prove sincerity.”

Wihart seemed a little surprised, although it was barely visible on his face. I left his office without saying a single word.

“Please continue to take good care of this northern fortress, Margrave Wihart.”

* * *

When we returned to our garrison, preparations for withdrawal were in full swing. Philgret, who was directing the work, came over with a perplexed look on his face when he saw me.

“Did you successfully complete the interview?”

“Yes, I think Wihart can be trusted now. But why is that? Was there any problem?”

“…Aila woke up.”

Let’s see, is it only 6 days? It was a long sleep. But I couldn’t find any reason for Philgret’s dark expression there.

“Good. But what?”

“To put it bluntly, he is missing.”

“…Yes?”

According to Philgret, that was only an hour ago.

It is said that Aila was very hungry when she woke up and ate the food they brought her. But it seems that was the last time Aila was seen.

“Did you search every corner of the accommodation?”

“Yes. We also requested cooperation from Nordrier’s soldiers. Please report the impression and contact us as soon as you see it.”

Ayla… where did she go?

There is no place for Eila to go within the fortress. Of course, since he still has the mind of a child, he may act somewhat strangely…

Until then, I didn’t think it was that big of a problem.

Maybe I went for a short walk after seeing an exotic scenery, or maybe I was hungry so I followed the smell of food. I figured he’d be back soon anyway.

But until late at night, Aila did not appear anywhere.

* * *

“Princess, princess! I found it!”

I didn’t get much sleep because I was waiting for news from Aila until late at night. I quickly got up when I heard the voice of a soldier knocking on the door.

“Where?”

“It’s the northern wall! I tried to pass through the gate at dawn!”

Why was Aela in a place like that? I didn’t know that, but I hurried out. When I got to the entrance of the dorm, I saw Eila surrounded by people, all watching closely.

“Sin, sin, sorry…! Sorry for suddenly disappearing…!”

First of all, my heart is relieved when I see that he is fine. Aila herself seemed to know that her disappearance had caused concern and that many people had been mobilized to search.

“Hi, uh, mother…!”

Aila was startled again when she saw me standing at the entrance. His hands were visibly shaking. He looked like a child who always got into trouble.

“Shall we go in and talk first?”

“…Yes…”

Aila, probably expecting a scary scolding, quietly followed behind me.

Entering the room, I sat down with Eila. And then he quietly asked her.

“Where have you been, Aila? I won’t get angry, so please speak calmly.”

“I don’t know… I was eating hard when suddenly, I heard a song coming from somewhere… and I followed it without even realizing it. As if possessed by something…”

“…is it a song?”

There is no one worthy of singing here. Well, there may be times when you find yourself humming without realizing it while working, but that’s probably not the song Aila is talking about.

“What song was it?”

“Boo, shall we call you?”

“Yes.”

Aila stood up and started singing. It was the first song I heard. But it didn’t seem like it was Aila’s first time singing it. I was singing an unfamiliar song so familiarly, as if I had been singing it for a long time.

The more I heard it, the more surprised I became. Unlike Aila’s usual songs, that song had lyrics. And the lyrics were composed of old words from the Lustier royal family.

“-And so I sleep, dark and lonely, here in my grave-.”

My heart is pounding. I felt like my soul, deep inside me, was trembling.

“Aila, where did you follow that song?”

“It was deep in the ground. It was a very secret place… I don’t even know why I went there.”

“Do you remember that location?”

Eila nodded strongly several times. I thought I knew where Aila had been.

The song that Eila had just sung that I suddenly heard was probably not a real song, but a song in my memory. It was sung by none other than the past Eila herself.

Did I recall some old memories in my deep sleep, or was it the food here that brought back the memories? Anyway, Aila remembered a song she was familiar with in the past.

This is a memory from when I was the head of the Black Mountain Goat Society. In that case, there was a high possibility that the place where Aila’s steps unconsciously headed was one of the hideouts at the time.

Up to that point, it’s actually just an incident. It was just a small accident caused by Aila in the confusion of her memories. But the reason I was so excited was because of Aila’s song I just heard.

The speaker of the song wanders around in search of something he desperately misses and eventually curls up in a cold, dark cave, exhausted. Unable to overcome the crushing loneliness and guilt, she even sheds tears.

The expressions and vocabulary used in the lyrics were quite familiar to me. These were things we had seen countless times due to the royal culture. In particular, expressions referring to the king himself frequently appeared.

Luke the Great’s final fate is not exactly known. As soon as he reached adulthood, he passed the throne to the second generation and never appeared in history again.

The prevailing theory in academia is that he died suddenly, but the people preferred the story that he set out on another romantic adventure.

But both were wrong.

Luke’s last years would not have been very happy.

Luke himself would have eventually realized that he had thrown away the woman he loved with his own hands, that she had become a witch, and that she hated him and his kingdom to the point of death.

So what did Luke do?

I felt like I had just reached the answer.